Pseudocereal facts for kids
A pseudocereal is a plant that isn't a true grass, but its seeds are used in many of the same ways as cereals. You can grind their seeds into flour or use them whole, just like grains such as wheat or rice. Some common pseudocereals include amaranth, quinoa, and buckwheat. They are often packed with nutrients and have been important foods for people for thousands of years.
What are Pseudocereals?
Pseudocereals are special because they come from different plant families than true cereals. For example, wheat and rice are grasses, but pseudocereals like quinoa and buckwheat are not. Despite this, their seeds are very similar to cereal grains in how they are used and what nutrients they provide. They are often gluten-free, which is good for people who can't eat gluten.
Common Types of Pseudocereals
There are many different kinds of pseudocereals grown around the world. Here are some of the most well-known ones:
- Amaranth: This ancient grain was a main food for the Aztecs. It comes in varieties like Love-lies-bleeding and Red amaranth.
- Breadnut: A tree whose seeds are used like grains.
- Buckwheat: Often used to make pancakes, noodles, and groats.
- Chia: Small seeds popular in drinks and puddings.
- Cockscomb: Also known as quail grass or soko.
- Pitseed Goosefoot: A plant with edible seeds.
- Cañahua: A relative of quinoa, grown in the Andes.
- Quinoa: A very popular pseudocereal from the Andes mountains.
- Wattleseed: Also called acacia seed, used in Australia.
How Pseudocereals are Grown
Pseudocereals are grown in many parts of the world. Some, like quinoa, have been grown for thousands of years in places like the Andes mountains. Others, like buckwheat, are common in Eurasia.
The table below shows how much of some pseudocereals were grown worldwide in different years. The numbers are in millions of metric tons.
| Grain | Worldwide production (millions of metric tons) |
Notes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | ||
| Buckwheat | 2.5 | 1.4 | 2.3 | 2.3 | 2.5 | Buckwheat is a pseudocereal from the plant family Polygonaceae. It is widely used in Eurasia and also in the United States and Brazil. People use it to make pancakes, groats, and noodles. |
| Quinoa | 0.03 | 0.08 | 0.08 | 0.08 | 0.10 | Quinoa is a pseudocereal from the plant family Amaranthaceae. It has been a traditional food in the Andes for a long time, and it is becoming more and more popular everywhere else. |
Other important grains that are grown locally, but are not always counted in big worldwide statistics, include:
- Amaranth: This is an ancient pseudocereal that was a main food for the Aztec Empire. Today, it is grown a lot in Africa.
- Kañiwa: This plant is a close relative of quinoa.
See also
In Spanish: Pseudocereal para niños
